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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28185513">The Ultimate Supreme Leader</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account'>orphan_account</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing, Super Dangan Ronpa 2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adrenaline, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), Angst, Arson, Background DICE (Dangan Ronpa), Boys In Love, But Kokichi is more crazy in this so it balances out, Crimes &amp; Criminals, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi, Eventual Relationships, Evil leader Kokichi, Explosives, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hajime was a private investigator at some point, Humor, I'll say it again; REALLY slow burn Saiouma, I'm in love with the DICE dynamic oml, Kinda pre-game personalities?, Kokichi likes Adrenaline, Komaeda Nagito Being Komaeda Nagito, Komaeda Nagito's Luck Cycle, Like they don't meet again until chapter 6 or 7, Misunderstandings, Multi, Nagito and Hajime have an established relationship kinda, Oma Kokichi Being Oma Kokichi, Oma Kokichi Is a Little Shit, Ouma not Oma, Plot, Pre-Game Personalities (New Dangan Ronpa V3), Shuichi and Kokichi are the main pair, Shuichi has good ass senses and intuition, Shuichi is extremely smart in this, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Theft, This is like REALLY slowburn, Weird Plot Shit, Writer is very tired</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 21:29:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>14,114</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28185513</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kokichi Ouma; an orphaned boy surviving on the poor crime-filled streets of Hope’s Peak plans an elaborate plan to take over the world with his growing organization known as DICE.</p>
<p>And Shuichi Saihara, the used-to-be detective, is hell-bent on stopping him even if he has to break every moral he used to have.</p>
<p>________________</p>
<p>Taking place in Japan at a large state known as Zetsubō-teki {Hopeless}.</p>
<p>In the small city ironically known as Hope's Peak- an area unique in the way that it was based on Victorian London but tragic in the poverty of it- a small exchange on a rooftop foreshadows the beginning of DICE’s rise to power and the uprising of a very dangerous criminal.<br/>________________</p>
<p>I highly suggest reading the tags and notes on this one, it can get confusing and I suck at summaries-<br/>Featuring pre-game personalities {especially Kaede} and also in-game personalities for the V3 characters. V1 and V2 characters are included and future Nagito/Hajime, Maki/Kaito, and Kaede/Amami are expected in later chapters.</p>
<p>Saiouma is the main ship in this story, however, so don't open the story if you're searching specifically for the other ships.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Akamatsu Kaede/Amami Rantaro, Harukawa Maki/Momota Kaito, Hinata Hajime/Komaeda Nagito, Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>65</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. PROLOGUE</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Ahhhh if you're hoping for a quick relationship then welcome to your worst nightmare! I put a lot of plot into this- probably too much honestly, I've written the future plans for the next chapters but honestly I keep losing myself in my own plot ideas. </p>
<p>Anyway, I need to explain that Shuichi has both in-game and pre-game personality traits. He's less shy and caring than his in-game self and has a fascination for blood and has obsessive traits {he obsesses over catching Ouma} like what would be assumed as his pre-game self but is also still shy and has common sense and seems kind like his in-game self. And yes, he is a coffee addict.</p>
<p>Kokichi is more threatening in this AU, I added a small trait to him where he enjoys the adrenaline of being close to death because it highlights how he's lost care in both his own life and others, he just seeks his ambition. This makes him more impulsive in this AU but his traits in-game remain the same such as him being smart and calculating, being childish and a liar, and seeing DICE as a family. He still has emotions and such he just likes the rush but he isn't suicidal. He is sad though-</p>
<p>Most of the others are either pre-game or in-game so they're mixed.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u"> REMINDERS: </span>
</p>
<p>  -Zetsubō-teki is a made-up state.</p>
<p>  -Hope's Peak isn't a high school; it's the name of a poor, crime-ridden city in Zetsubō-teki.</p>
<p>  -Kokichi, DICE, and some others refer to the richer citizens in the state of Zetsubo-Teki “Buta,” which is the Japanese term for "pig." My way of using this word may be incorrect and if this offends anyone, I would appreciate it if I was told in the comments, I will quickly scrap the term if it causes discomfort. I'm only using the term because saying "Kokichi looked for rich citizens" sounds too lengthy and using a distasteful term helps highlight the dislike for richer folk.</p>
<p>  -Kokichi and Shuichi are 16 currently but that doesn't mean the rest of the V3, V1, or V2 classmates are around the same age, I will tell their ages, height, and names in a brief introduction before bringing them into a scene so that you know how old everyone is as well as reminded of their height so you can visualize the scenes better {I, myself, have a hard time remembering the differences between the heights of these characters.</p>
<p>  -There will be drugs, violence, crime, arson, profanity, sex jokes, dark jokes, and the possibility of major character death. I haven't decided what character or if I will do that, but be warned that it is a potential option.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Without further ado, enjoy.</p>
<p>. . .</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> Taking place in Japan at a large state known as Zetsubō-teki {Hopeless}. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> In the small city ironically known as Hope's Peak- an area unique in the way that it was based on Victorian London but tragic in the poverty of it- a small exchange on a rooftop foreshadows the beginning of DICE’s rise to power and the uprising of a very dangerous criminal. </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>.</p>
<p>
  <em> Kokichi Ouma: </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> 15-years-old {at the time}, 5’1” </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>Kokichi Ouma </b>was sat on the very edge of an old, abandoned, 4-story apartment building which stood squished between a cluster of food stands, newspaper stands, find-my-lost-pet stands- you name it! And then the old abandoned 3-story business building that was now up for grabs to any business cooperation in desperate need of some kind of office. Each floor was its own office but the windows were shattered (most of which were done by Kokichi himself) and the offices inside were so old, trashed, and small that Kokichi was sure that no one was desperate enough to even go near it.</p>
<p>Which was good for him. An extra place to work plus he could keep using their bathroom since the building still oddly had plumbing, and yet the apartment building he perched himself on and called home, did not.</p>
<p>Across from him was a clothing shop, a psychic shop, and lastly, an actual food/produce store which made those food stands that sat there 24/7 pretty useless.</p>
<p>But Kokichi couldn’t care for the buildings, no, he was focused on what was <em> between </em> the buildings. The alleys. Being born and raised in Hope’s Peak- a poor, old city in Zetsubō-teki- proved to be very useful in his later years when he discovered that he could adjust better in the dark and he could navigate the alleys as if he had every turn memorized and parkour his way around any alley or rooftop. The darkness brought calmness to the true residents of this shady place and discomfort to those living in the richer areas of Zetsubō-teki.</p>
<p>Kokichi liked to call those who weren’t born in Hope’s Peak and were instead born in the richer, newer areas of Zetsubō-teki, “Buta,” {pig} and would sometimes amuse himself by counting off how many Buta’s he saw a day. You could tell by their fancy clothes or their manners and attitude that they weren’t from here. </p>
<p>No, those from around here dressed darkly because they knew the darkest parts of the world were their homes and the slums were their safe haven. Poverty was common- unemployment was common- and death among children was very common. Not a lot of top-notch hospitals around here, exactly. </p>
<p>Nothing could have been more out of place than the oddly nice beige coat wrapped around fine black fabric- fabric wrapping around the thin frame of a boy in polished black shoes who took one long glance at Kokichi and then began making his way towards the abandoned building Kokichi sat on, legs dangling over the edge and heels kicking against the brick wall in a bored, childish way. A Buta.</p>
<p>In such brumous weather, Kokichi wondered if the boy who looked up at the roof had seen him at all. Kokichi himself could barely see the boy's face past the thick fog and could hardly focus as the frigid air niped at the only exposed parts of his body- his neck, face, and hands. Black was the theme color around these parts, so of course, Kokichi wore all black- black pants, black socks, black button-up with golden buttons which Kokichi so desperately wanted to paint black- it made everyone constantly look like they were headed towards some sort of funeral, but you get used to it eventually. But dressed in all black clothing in the middle of the night on a high roof in foggy weather basically made you invisible to anyone down below. And yet, somehow that boy had taken such a long glance at him and was now walking towards his building as if he knew someone was there.</p>
<p>Kokichi couldn't bring himself to care enough to watch him and see where he went, so he tore his eyes away from the beige coat and instead looked at the shady civilians dressed in black down below. Though he could barely see, he was sure there were drug trades and stealing going on down there.</p>
<p>Kokichi himself was born into the concept of “safety in the dark.” Having been born and then taken to a crappy orphanage at the age of 5 and then taught the ways of survival through experiences, classmates, and natural instinct, he didn’t worry about the dark tones or shady business centered in Hope’s Peak. This was home. A strange one, but home nonetheless.</p>
<p>Of course, he wanted to change something, though. Ever since he was little he wanted to do something big- something dangerous and never seen before. He wanted to take over the world. But a goal as big as that requires focus, time, thought, and connections. Fortunately, he made a few friends- not a lot, but enough to start his planning stage. And that’s why he came to the roof today. It helped him think and it was way less boring having half your body off of a building than it was laying on the couch reading stolen books because the abandoned apartments don’t have cable.</p>
<p>“I thought I saw someone up here. You do realize that you’re sitting on the edge of a building, right?” </p>
<p>"You do realize that you're talking to a stranger and invading my privacy, right?" Kokichi sighed and turned his head to look over his shoulder at the beige-coat wearing Buta who had found his way onto the roof probably via the stairs inside the building. How annoying. Kokichi gave him a bored expression, rather uninterested in talking to some rich prick, and said his words coldly, a chilly breeze making his clothes ruffle and hair sway to make his presence more dramatic. "You have no reason to be up here, so get lost." And it was true. I mean, what kind of stranger looks up at a shadowy figure on a rooftop and thinks 'what a great person to talk to imma go on the roof and bother them-' and how did this guy manage to see him anyway? Creepy.</p>
<p>If the cold weather didn't make him shiver, this guy would. Seriously creepy and rather strange. Kokichi was a little weirded out.</p>
<p>The man in beige narrowed his eyes and brought a hand to the brim of his hat to tug it down further- a hat Kokichi didn't notice he wore down below but could now see clearly. The man himself looked really strange up close, too. Pale skin- deathly pale like Kokichi's and yet his eyes- well, what he could see of them considering half of his face was obscured in a shadow thanks to his hat- were golden, a citrine yellow which greatly contrasted his frighteningly dark lashes which seemed nearly too long to be a guy's. From what little hair poking out of his hat, he could make out a nearly navy blue color, but it was hard to tell in the fog. He looked taller than Kokcihi too, of course. </p>
<p>"I wasn't sure if you were real or not. You look almost ghostly from down below." Huh. So it seemed like this guy was just completely ignoring Kokichi's request for alone time. </p>
<p>The boy's voice sounded young, not much older than Kokichi if he was older at all, and yet his voice was also cold and unreadable. Creepy. This guy was really creepy, and not in a scary way. He was just strange. "Maybe I am a ghost. What, do you want me to haunt you? I could possess you and make you throw yourself off this building, you know." Maybe this guy really was insane- he thought he was seeing a ghost and he came up to <em> talk </em> to them instead of passing it off as a figment of his imagination. </p>
<p>"No, you don't seem like a spirit from this close. You just seem like a homeless child." </p>
<p><em> Wow, thanks, random weird guy. </em>Kokichi turned away from him, bored with the interaction from the very beginning. He looked back down at the mostly-criminal population below once more and hoped that his silence would make the guy go away. Seriously, just being by such a weird Buta made him nauseous. He might just hurl over the rooftop if this dude came any closer.</p>
<p>And yet the man did. He went closer and closer, polished shoes scraping against loose pebbles and clicking dully against hard cement. Kokichi couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes as he heard those footsteps approaching. Geez, read the room, weirdo. </p>
<p>Only when those stupid black leather shoes stepped onto the ledge next to Kokichi- the ledge he was sitting on- did those footsteps stop.</p>
<p>Kokichi sighed silently, his mind repeating a faint mantra of: <em> go away, go away, I want to be alone </em>. He wanted to say it and yet he didn't.</p>
<p>He felt uncomfortable on the property of his own home. How sad. </p>
<p>"Are you deaf or something?” Kokichi asked, looking up at the man with a distasteful expression. That beige coat ended at his knees and waved in the wind beautifully and the man had his hands stuffed in his pockets, deep brown buttons were left unused and the collar popped up to make him look unfairly mature- Kokichi could even say handsome. It almost reminded him of a rip-off of Sherlock Holmes. Almost. </p>
<p>Those yellow eyes wandered down to look at Kokichi, that same neutral, unreadable expression on his face but he did not respond. Maybe he really was deaf.</p>
<p>Sighing, Kokichi gave up trying to make him go away so he just sat there silently and stared off into the horizon while he tried thinking of a plan…</p>
<p>He would need a name first. An organization name. If he wanted to rule the world he would need to do it with some kind of cool alias for what his group would be called so that when it was written in the history books it wasn’t just “a team of rebels.” And yet, even as he sat there for what felt like an hour although it had been barely over 10 minutes, in reality, not a single idea for a name came to mind.</p>
<p>“...You know, everything is rather cruel,” Kokichi muttered- mostly to himself, admittedly, and he thought he had kept quiet and yet a certain pair of sunshine yellow eyes latched onto him but this time with a voice to match it.</p>
<p>“How so?”</p>
<p>Oh, so he wasn’t deaf, what'd ya know.</p>
<p>Kokichi hummed and stood up slowly, now standing next to the Sherlock-Holms-wanna-be-looking man. Kokichi stared down at his feet and the ground below while the man kept his eyes trained on him. And then Kokichi decided that he should introduce his ideas to the man; introduce him to Kokichi Ouma; the soon-to-be evil leader. Every evil leader needed a good backstory and if this was where his plans began, then this is where he would expose it to a stranger and leave a lasting impression. “It should be fairly obvious what I mean. I’m sure everyone would agree at some point. Emotions are cruel, our bodies are cuel, our minds, our friends, our families or those we consider family- everything about ourselves is cruel but society just makes it worse; shoving laws in our faces and stuffing rules and manners down our throats, telling us we need to act a certain way, telling us that feeling things is wrong. I hate authority. I hate when people think they’re better than everyone and I hate liars. I hate that everything around us is lies, even part of ourselves is a lie. And yet I can’t stand the truth for that reason either. Truth tries to change what we are- tries to change what society is built on and strives for- <em> lies. </em> Truth tries to fix things that are beyond broken and it’s just pathetic.” Kokichi felt a chuckle bubbling up in the back of his throat, felt his foot move on its own as he began stepping off the building, leaning forwards with his foot suspended in the air, and he felt a grin tug at his mouth as he started to fall forwards and his body pulsed with tingling electricity, every part of his body lighting on fire as his heart pumped rapidly and his mind went blank with absolute joy- then a tug. He stopped moving forwards and his heart began to slow back down as his grin dropped and a shadow was cast on his face as he lowered his head. The man had grabbed the back collar of his shirt, saving him from falling which was what he expected. Introducing himself and making an impression to a random person for kicks didn’t call for killing yourself but if he hadn’t grabbed him, he would have died. But he couldn’t help it. That moment of pure adrenaline made him giddy beyond explanation. Death never scared him, heights never scared him. <em> Truth </em> scared him. “That’s why I’m going to change the world.”</p>
<p>He concluded his speech and looked up at the mystery man who showed some expression for the first time. A single drop of sweat traveled down his cheek and his brows were furrowed, eyes slightly wider and trained on him in concern and intrigue. Then, as Kokichi’s eyes landed on the man’s golden ones, he saw him shiver and it made Kokichi chuckle darkly. It was working. His eyes narrowed, “no matter what, from this day forward you will never forget me. You’ll hear my name in your nightmares at night because you came up here to see if you saw a ghost and while I’m no apparition…” Kokichi placed both feet on the ledge safely and felt the hand on the back of his collar slip away as Kokichi took a half-step towards the man and leaned forwards, an evil grin decorating his features just to make this moment even more unforgettable “... I can still haunt you.” He backed off and jumped down from the ledge onto the flat rooftop, humming as he made his way to the side of the building, the closest side to the abandoned office building. With his foot on the ledge ready to jump down into the alleyway and land on the metal platform down below which had a metal pull-up ladder attached to it. It wasn’t a far jump but if you weren’t used to it you might twist your ankle landing.</p>
<p>But the knowledge of jumping down wasn’t what stopped Kokichi. It was the sound of the stranger's voice behind him which was no longer cold and flat, but now expressive and almost desperate. “Saihara. My name is Saihara, Shuichi.” </p>
<p>Kokichi froze, confused as to why a total stranger would offer up his name to... Well, Kokichi was a stranger to him too. Maybe it was a Buta thing? But still, Kokichi didn’t want to give up his full name to some creepy stranger on a rooftop. But maybe…</p>
<p>The organization name. He could foreshadow it and later when the name would pop up in newspapers and in the streets, this stranger- <em> Saihara </em>- will shake in his boots knowing he was the first to hear that name. </p>
<p>
  <em> Think, think… this is a perfect opportunity you can’t waste this! What’s a good name for an evil organization…  </em>
</p>
<p>And then something came to mind. Something associated with games and sometimes gambling, something that could work perfect for a name and possibly an acronym for an evil organization. </p>
<p>So as the bitter wind nipped at his skin and numbed his cheeks, Kokichi looked over his shoulder to Saihara and grinned darkly. “I’m DICE.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>And then he jumped.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. In the beginning</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Rantaro Amami and Kaede Akamatsu's introductions.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for all the support!! I'm working on the 3rd chapter now and this one had some messy writing but I hope I get the character dynamics right! I'll work harder on the next chapter so it may be a slower update, thank you!</p><p>WARNING: This was not beta-read</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>- </p><p> </p><p>One Year Later. . .</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Shuichi Saihara:  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> 16-years-old, 5’7” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Saihara wasn’t a detective. Saihara wouldn’t be a detective until at least another year of studying. Saihara wasn’t meant to work on cases yet.</p><p> </p><p>And yet here he was huddled over a case file describing the murder of a middle-aged man in a hotel room with a slit throat and staples in his chest. It wasn’t disturbing to Saihara when he saw the bloody picture, the first thing that had popped into his mind when he saw it was ‘damn that’s good camera quality.’</p><p> Blood was natural and sometimes kind of pretty. It was disgusting to most and Shuichi knew that thinking of blood as pretty was a little weird, but he couldn’t help it. It was so raw and real and the scarlet color was unlike any artificial red color ever painted.</p><p>Plus, when you live with your detective uncle who is training you to be a detective, you learn to get used to this kind of gorey thing.</p><p>But still, an amature in-training detective shouldn't be looking at actual case files and legitimately solving them. That should be the morals for most, but his uncle encouraged this kind of deviance. His only rule was that Shuichi would only look into the cases his uncle was working on when his uncle passed out and then Shuichi would tell him what he thought about the case in the morning. </p><p>Tonight under the influence of alcohol, his uncle had passed out. It was cheap alcohol, nothing like the fancy bottles stored at home in a far more… <em> dignified </em> area of Zetsubō-teki. But in a place like Hope's Peak, it was the best thing his uncle could get quickly, Shuichi supposed. </p><p>They had temporarily rented a room in one of the nicer-looking apartments in Hope's Peak since the murder case happened here and his uncle needed to investigate and "get in the zone." Honestly, Shuichi hated it here and he wanted to do nothing more than go back home and eat his food without worrying about rats crawling in the cabinets or sleep on his comfy queen-sized bed instead of the squeaky, lumpy twin-sized one he was forced to stay in. He wasn't spoiled, he was grateful for the housing, but it was hard not to judge the place when you wake up and see 2 mice eating your favorite cereal out of the box. </p><p>Saihara sighed, shaking his head as he turned back to the file pages, some of them scattered on his bed in front of him mixed in with some of his school pages. He sat crossed-legged on his bed with the file opened in his lap, a hand covering his mouth as he squinted at the file and re-read the same odd sentence over and over. 'Thirty-four staple wounds to the chest… no stapler or staple gun found in the house… staples make the pattern of a frowning face and teardrop…' it was just… why? Why staples and a frowning face? It was a little demonic, honestly, and if the victim was still alive when the staples were planted, that pain must have been awful in the places they were stapled. It said the man had one daughter and one adopted son but the daughter moved out when she was 16, living with her boyfriend and his family while in some sort of punk rebel phase but with no malice intent, and the son had run away when he was 7, which he was adopted when he was 6 and that was too young to possibly even remember his orphanage or temporary father, though, with the age of the daughter and dad, this meant the boy would be a teenager by now but why would he go back just to kill his caregiver?</p><p>He was still a suspect, however, so Saihara picked up a pencil and scribbled on a loose-leaf paper "investigate adopted son," and wrote down his appearance description and then the orphanage he came from. He moved on, looking at the marriage information. Divorced, the wife had left when the daughter was 3 and there has been no sign of her since, no interaction with the family at all. </p><p>Shuichi added her information to the notes and yawned, groaning soon after as his head began to pound against his skull. Seriously, he needed to work on handling his headaches with cases soon. That would be a problem when he got into actual detective work. </p><p>Begrudgingly, Shuichi placed the papers back into the folder and placed it on the bedside table, stretching his arms way above his head before swinging his legs over the side and heading to his closet.</p><p>Back at home, he had a walk-in closet.</p><p>But here it was the size of a janitor's closet. </p><p>The floorboards creaked as he carefully tip-toed across the room so as to not wake up his uncle and then gently opened the closet doors but no matter how slowly he went, the damn thing still creaked. </p><p>
  <em> Nicest apartments huh? I can't imagine what the rest of the places are like. I mean, how do people manage here- </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> "Life is cruel..." </em>
</p><p> </p><p>A violently purple boy popped up in his mind, the memory of the one who had given him such a cryptic name and concerning conversation. Shuichi shivered and grabbed his beige coat that hung on the high shelf, wrapping it around his shoulders.</p><p>Ever since he went on the trip down here with his father for yet another case from last year, Shuichi had dreaded this second visit. That boy was right; he never forgot him. He was just too… different. </p><p>His voice, looks, mannerisms, views- everything was so… different. So unusual. It was terrifying and yet so interesting. Almost every day Saihara would replay that encounter in his head, searching for more cryptic clues as to what he truly was and what DICE meant. He would go over what he could have said to make the strange boy stay longer and yet nothing he could imagine seemed realistic enough to ever be true.</p><p>It was frustrating how badly he wanted to talk to that boy again and avoid him for the rest of his life at the same time. </p><p>Threatening, alluring, and charismatic were the only words accurate and dramatic enough to describe the boy. Words like <em> odd </em> and <em> strange </em>were too simple- too surface-level to describe who he met that day.</p><p>…</p><p>
  <em> I’m thinking about it again. There’s no way my head is going to stop pounding if I keep circling back to that boy. </em>
</p><p>Saihara sighed, rubbing his temples absentmindedly as he made his way to the front door and spared a glance at the case file on his bed before swinging the door open and shutting it behind himself carefully so as to not disturb his uncle.</p><p>No more thinking about DICE. No more thinking about the case. No more thinking about where he was going.</p><p>He needed a clear head and some fresh air so without much thought put into where he was trying to go, he let his feet guide him down the hallway, down the stairs, past the lobby, and out into the streets of Hope’s Peak.</p><p>The smell of cigarettes and blood hit him almost immediately and made his head spin even more. He didn’t have time to think about the disgusted faces people made at him; he didn’t have time to think about if the smell of blood was really blood or just rusted metal. His head was hurting too much and the world felt fuzzy, his thoughts melting together into an incoherent jumble of words and painful sensations.</p><p>So he walked.</p><p>He took a left, then a right, then another right, then a left, and then he went straight for a while. 30 minutes. He couldn’t have been walking for more than 30 minutes and yet his headache was already soothing. It wasn’t the fresh air he needed (each inhale accompanied by a nasty aroma) but it was outside air either way. His swimming thoughts soon became organized and the pounding behind his skull became dull thudding until he could ignore it. </p><p>Saihara sighed in relief, stopping in his tracks to first adjust his hat properly over his eye and then look around at where he was. </p><p><em> Let’s see… Food stands, newspaper stands, and find-my-lost-pet stands… </em>  It was oddly familiar, he realized. <em>A shattered</em> <em>  business building which still remains unsurprisingly unoccupied, an apartment bui- </em></p><p>His eyes went wide and his attention snapped up to the rooftop of said apartment building complex. 4-stories. Flat rooftop. Several broken windows. A boy with purple hair and black clothing sitting dangerously close to the ledge of the roof. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “While I may not be an apparition… I can still haunt you.” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Saihara felt his throat close and his breath hitch as he caught sight of purple eyes glaring down at him with such obvious hate. The same pale skin and black clothing and the same purple hair and eyes and swinging legs. This was him. This was DICE. Still here a year later with no difference in his appearance except for a checkered scarf tied around his neck. </p><p>The air wasn’t foggy as it had been when they first met so Saihara was now able to see the boy much better from down below and even if it was obvious he was a real person and not a ghost, there was no denying the ghostly-tone of his pale skin compared to his dark eyes. At first glance, Saihara had confused him for a spirit yet again.</p><p>The glare that the boy above sent towards Shuichi slowly softened into a mischievous twinkle as his lips turned into a wide grin and his eyes went bright and wide.</p><p>Shuichi gulped. His pulse was racing, his entire body quivering under that gaze. Not again. He would never come back here again. He would never see this boy again.</p><p>He had hoped for that- <em> promised </em> himself that he would never see him again. This boy was the same boy that haunted his nightmares and terrorized his thoughts constantly, a back-and-forth of “I need to talk to him” and “no, never again.” </p><p>He couldn’t move.</p><p>“Hey, are you alright?” A voice so gentle and calming pulled Shuichi out of his thoughts. Those purple eyes weren’t looking at him anymore, they were angled up at the sky. Had DICE even been looking at him? Was he just imagining things?</p><p>Saihara smiled shakily and looked downwards, tugging his hat down to hopefully snap himself out of his train of thought. He was thankful for the distraction. “Yes, I’m fine. Oh, uh, sorry for spacing out like that.” Shuichi offered an awkward chuckle and turned to look at the stranger.</p><p>Green.</p><p>Green hair, green eyes.</p><p>He was handsome too. Oddly charming, actually. Both ears were decorated in piercings and his hands had rings on random fingers. And yet, despite his interesting choice of jewelry, his outfit was rather bland. But it was colorful. He was probably not a resident here, then.</p><p>The stranger flashed him an understanding smile. “No worries. You looked like you were about to pass out so I figured I’d intervene.” The green-centric man looked up at the roof of the apartment complex and looked straight at Shuichi’s worst nightmare. </p><p>And he <em> smiled </em> at it. “You were looking at Ouma, right?”</p><p>“Ouma? Um, sorry I’ve never heard of an Ouma.”</p><p>The boy beside him chuckled and looked back at Shuichi. “Sorry, I could have sworn you knew him with the way you looked at him. I guess anyone who sees a kid on a rooftop would look petrified, though, so maybe I’m looking too much into it. It was nice to meet you, try not to get your wallet snatched on your way home.”</p><p>And then the stranger went to the doors of the apartment complex and simply walked inside like Shuichi had done that one night.</p><p>
  <em> Does he live there or… </em>
</p><p>Shuichi sighed and shook his head, turning around and walking back towards his own apartment while he tried to retrace his steps. Another headache was worming its way into his skull and he didn’t want to stay near the stranger or the boy on the roof any longer than necessary.</p><p>Something about the stranger struck Shuichi as odd but he brushed it off, too mentally exhausted to think about it anymore.</p><p>And yet, his mind went back to the stranger’s words anyway.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Ouma? </em>
</p><p> </p><p>. . .</p><p> </p><p>
  <b> <em>Buzz, Buzz, Bu-</em> </b>
</p><p> “..Hello?” </p><p>“Shuichi, hurry home.” His uncle’s voice was raspy and gruff. Most likely from the alcohol and from just waking up.</p><p>Shuichi nodded to himself. “I’m on my way now, do you need me to pick something up or-”</p><p>“Kirigiri just called. You’re being put on your first case.”</p><p> </p><p>_______________________________</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Rantaro Amami: </em>
</p><p>
  <em> 18-years-old, 5’10” </em>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>“Amami, huh? I’ve heard your name before, you’re one of those rich boys aren’t you.” </p><p>
  <em> Fucking Buta. </em>
</p><p>“Aha.. I see, so you know my family. It’s true, but that’s not why-”</p><p>“We’re done here then.” Kokichi gave a flick of his wrist, not bothering to look back at Amami. He was occupied watching the beige coat fade out of sight down the street. He sighed, disappointed that Saihara hadn’t gone up to talk to him about his evil schemes and yet he was satisfied with the terrified look he got from the boy.</p><p>Of course, someone had to come along and snap Saihara out of it and ruin Kokichi’s entertainment for the afternoon. The same person was now standing behind him after presenting his name as if this was some sort of planned meet-up.</p><p>Entitled pricks. All of them.</p><p>“I know someone who can help your cause.”</p><p>“My cause? You say it like I run a charity case.” Kokichi whipped his head around and snarled, standing up and brushing his almost-straight-jacket coat off in annoyance, his brow twitching as he sighed heavily. “I already said we’re done here. I would recommend the stairs but I would much rather you jump off the-”</p><p>The man kneeled. Legitimately kneeled. This man was nearly an entire foot taller than Kokichi and he <em> kneeled </em> for him. Geez, the height dynamics here were seriously pissing him off. </p><p>But the change of position grabbed his interest so he put on a blank face and crossed his arms over his chest, his body language saying <em> ‘I’m waiting…’ </em></p><p>Seeing this, Amami spoke, “They’re an amazing inventor who can create everything you need and more. But I’ll only share who this is if you allow me to join DICE.” </p><p> </p><p>. . . </p><p>The information had spread like wildfire. Through his numerous connections to the darkest markets and places this world had to offer, he began telling the idea of DICE. He’s received a few patrons, one of which was a cosplayer working in the fashion shop across the street who handmade his scarf and is working on making dozens more. His current followers and patrons all had a scarf as well and though it looked normal to ordinary civilians, to those who were familiar with the shady alleys hiding drug dealers, illegal bars, gamblers, and murders, the checkered pattern represented loyalty to Ouma.</p><p>Yes, he had also given his last name to those who knew of DICE. </p><p>And those who followed him followed DICE’s goal: to help Ouma rise to the top and take over the world with his goals in mind. But why trust such a childish dream? Because some people thought the world needed changing too. Some people liked his attitude and some just wanted to see everything fall apart. </p><p>Currently, at 46 members, his dream was close to becoming more realistic.</p><p>So how did this Buta know of his organization? Usually, the richer ones stay out of the darker parts of Hope’s Peak.</p><p> </p><p>“Why would I give you that kind of position? I don’t explicitly need an inventor, I’ll find one myself and I doubt I need someone so useless as a follower. I need reliable people- talented and strong. I don’t need some desperate spoiled avocado-looking teenager. Go home and cry into your silk pillowcase, <em> Buta. </em>” He practically spat out the word, turning away from the still-kneeling Amami and walking over to the side of the roof where the metal platform and ladder sat waiting for him.</p><p>“Because I’m an adventurer.” </p><p>Kokichi stopped but it was different from the time he stopped to listen to Saihara introduce himself. He didn’t stop out of interest. He stopped because he started laughing. “An adventurer? What would I need <em> that </em> for-”</p><p>A hand reached out and grasped his shoulder and Kokichi flinched, biting his tongue to keep from growling as he flicked his eyes over to look back at Amami who was now standing behind him with a cold expression. His grip was rather tight too. What a pain.</p><p>“I can spread DICE across the darker parts of Zetsubō-teki in the richer areas. Places where the Yakuza are. I have friends there, I can also give you aid in money and influence in the higher parts when the time comes that you’ll need it.” </p><p>...Well, he had a point.</p><p>Somewhere along with his secret plan, he would have to infiltrate the higher-ups and get connections beyond his current reach. I mean, a bunch of petty criminals weren’t going to get him to the top. This Rantaro Amami could potentially be extremely helpful in the grand scheme of things. But first..</p><p>Kokichi shrugged Amami’s hand off of his shoulder forcefully and sent a chilling glare in his direction to which Amami flashed a meek smile and raised his hands defensively, his charming persona back on full display as if he had offered to paint Kokichi’s nails and didn’t just offer to aid a future dictator. </p><p>Kokichi eased his glare just slightly and then turned away, digging through his pocket before throwing a checkered scarf identical to his own at Amami. He didn’t check to see if he caught it. “Fine. I accept your offer but you’ll only respond to my orders. If you need me, come to this rooftop and I’ll likely be there. Tell your inventor to start working on 10 untraceable phones that only have texting and calling functions and which the signal cannot be interfered with or hacked. If she can pull that off before tomorrow, I’ll consider letting her join.” </p><p>And with that, he leaped off the ledge and landed on the metal platform stationed beneath the 2nd story windowsill. He hummed as he climbed in the already-opened window and yanked aside the curtains. He didn’t bother closing the curtain since the building didn’t have AC and if there wasn’t at least one window open the place started to heat up like a sauna. </p><p>The building was completely abandoned which is why he made this one room his home. It was perfect, honestly, he had peace and quiet and pre-bought furniture and a decently sized room. The window opened up to the living room which had a broken, crooked, unused TV hanging on the wall and a slightly beaten up couch across from it. The wall behind the couch had tally marks to show the number of members accumulated and the door to exit the apartment sat on the other side of the room. To his left was the kitchen doorway and to the right was his bedroom doorway. See? Not too shabby.</p><p>The only problem besides the spiders was a frequent visitor who didn’t know how to leave him alone. He was slightly thankful for it because they brought him food and company, but annoyed that they acted as if they lived with him.</p><p>___________<br/><br/><em>Kaede Akamatsu: </em></p><p>
  <em> 17-years-old, 5'8" </em>
</p><p>
  <em> ___________ </em>
</p><p><br/>Kaede Akamatsu was currently laying on his living room couch with her eyes focused on her pink phone while she played some sort of lame game. Two plastic bags sat at the foot of the couch which was probably the food she brought him. “How many times have I told you not to break in without my permission?” Kokichi placed his hands on his hips and huffed a little childishly, staring at her with mock-disappointment.</p><p>“It wouldn’t be breaking in if I asked permission. I got you a box of pop tarts, some lollipops, new sharpies, and some panta. Don’t get too excited, there’s a 75% ‘chance they’re off-brand.” She powered off her phone and sat up as Kokichi walked over to the bags and scooped them up, childish excitement flashing in his eyes as he grinned and ran off to the kitchen. Kaede blinked and the gremlin was back in a flash with a bottle of opened panta in his hands and a black sharpie. Kaede watched as he popped the marker cap off with his teeth and spat it out, standing on the couch cushion behind her and marking another tally on the wall with a proud smile while tossing the black marker over his shoulder. It hit the TV and rolled onto the stained carpet among the pile of other dried out markers.</p><p>Kaede sighed, “I wouldn’t have to buy you so many markers if you put the caps back on properly and didn’t leave them out to dry.”</p><p>“Well, that’s your money, not mine, <em> mom.” </em></p><p>“You don’t even have money. What if I just stopped paying for your food and markers.”</p><p>“Then I’ll start eating my own fingers and using my blood to mark the tally’s!” Kokichi raised his arms in the air and grinned. An obvious lie. Kaede shook her head and turned her attention back to her phone. </p><p>“So you got another one? How many now?”</p><p>“10,000-” </p><p>“Shut up.”</p><p>“Waaahhhhh?! You asked me how many!”</p><p>“Be realistic, Ouma.”<br/>“Fineeee. 47 but he offered another member so possibly 48 if they can match my expectations, Nishishi~”</p><p>“... You gave them something impossible again didn’t you?” Kaede stood up and tossed her phone on the couch, taking herself to the kitchen so she could grab a poptart as Kokichi responded to her.</p><p>“Awwh~ It wasn’t that bad, they're an inventor so I asked them to make 10 untraceable phones for DICE communication purposes only!”</p><p>Kaede wandered back to the room to find Kokichi sprawled out on the couch, sipping at his panta while smirking, waggling a finger at Kaede. She groaned and sat at the foot of the couch, playing a random boring game while nibbling at her pop tarts. </p><p>“How long did you give them?”</p><p>“A day~” </p><p>“Well, not as bad as it could be, actually.” Kaede hummed in surprise before grunting in frustration as she died in her game and restarted back at her checkpoint.</p><p>“Well, we need an inventor and we need those phones. They can’t be messily built so I gave them more time than usual.” Kokichi suddenly leaned over the couch to rest his chin on Kaede’s shoulder, grinning at her as she died in her game once again and focused her eyes on Kokichi. “Once we have an inventor who can make the bombs, we’re ready to start our plan.” Kokichi leaned back once again but Kaede didn’t take her eyes off the spot where he had been. Her eyes were wide, her mind and heart racing as she smiled- <em> genuinely </em> smiled for the first time in years. She spun around, forgetting about her game and food as she looked up at Kokichi eagerly. “Really? We’ll be ready?” </p><p>Kokichi nodded and hummed, chugging the rest of his panta before tossing the empty container to the side. </p><p>. . .</p><p>Kaede’s first words to Kokichi had been <em> “I have no faith in humanity.” </em> And that’s all that she had to say. She heard of his plan to take over the world and change it and make it better. Kaede thought it was all a bunch of bull crap at first but then he mentioned fire and bombs and crimes- but most importantly- he mentioned <em> death. </em> Death to Buta’s and even citizens of Hope’s Peak. He would be a terrorist before a leader and he would execute all that defied him and cause chaos by eliminating people he didn’t even know.</p><p>Because he, too, had lost faith in humanity and he would bring it to its knees and then fix it as it should be. </p><p>Kaede had waited for <em> years </em> to hear about when he would start, she watched as his dream became a reality. She was there before he even had the name DICE for the organization. </p><p>And if they were ready to start…</p><p> </p><p>“Akamatsu, I have a job for you.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Please let me know if anything seems odd or OOC in the comments, also I made this one a little simplified and rushed so please let me know if this was uncomfortable to read &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Connections pt.1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Shuichi's new case turned out to be more difficult than he expected.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm </p><p>t i r e d</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <em> Um… you can’t be serious... </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Shuichi gulped nervously, closing the file with shaky hands.</p><p>
  <em> No, detectives need to be ready to step into unknown territory whenever they need to. You can’t get nervous, you need to power through this and show them that you can handle it.</em>
</p><p>But no matter how much he tried to mentally hype himself up, he couldn’t stop shaking, and as odd as it was, Shuichi <em>wished </em>they had given him a murder case instead of this mess. </p><p>A bomb threat. An actual bomb threat. Normally they wouldn’t give this kind of case to a newbie but Kirigiri’s excuse for it (according to his Uncle’s conversation with her) had been that Shuichi proved to be a skilled detective that needed a tougher test and that they didn’t have any other detective’s in Hope’s Peak so it was perfect that this case had just popped up. Shuichi accepted this last night, but after receiving the file on his Apartment’s doorstep the next morning, Shuichi began regretting his decision. </p><p>An anonymous report about a woman named “Celeste” had been sent to the police station a couple of nights ago. The report was rather thorough in which it explained how they overheard an illegal gambling match between Celeste and a rather big man. Celeste was a well-known name even in the richer parts of Zetsubō-teki, she was a talented gambler who never lost a match (or so is rumored to have never lost one) and runs a casino in the depths of Hope's Peak, but there was something more to it. There were frequent reports of drug deals and concerning deals being made like someone betting their life or all of their money. And yet, Celeste was untouchable. Through some weird deal with chief Kirigiri, Celeste got to live as a free woman until there was a new chief of police.</p><p>But, putting aside Celeste’s reputation, the anonymous report stated that there had been a chess match in which the bigger man asked for information on “the checkered scarves” and Celeste asked for the man's loyalty as a dealer at her casino if he lost. As the match played out, Celeste- surprisingly- lost and the man got the information he desired. </p><p>“I can’t say the specifics or I’m afraid I may be killed. The leader gave certain people permission to speak about it but I’m not one of them, unfortunately. Normally I like an honest bet, however, so I’ll tell you some of their plans. After all, they are always looking for new supporters. When the leader gets what he needs, he plans to set off 5 bombs throughout Zetsubō-teki in random areas.” Saying all that she had known at the time, the man who won seemed satisfied and got up to leave but the anonymous tipper ran away just in time to make a report to the station. </p><p>Apparently, it was Shuichi’s job to go to the casino himself and investigate. Normally any case with Celeste involved was dropped but a threat like this was different and since she didn’t seem to be the one causing it, Kirigiri was letting Shuichi work on the case.</p><p>But this… no, he had never directly investigated something like this. He had seen crime scenes and investigated giddily like a child in a candy store, almost too happy to see dead bodies killed in all sorts of unique ways, but having to go into the darker parts of Hope’s Peak was a different subject. The people walking down the street were freaky enough- </p><p><em> That boy </em>was freaky enough.</p><p>Shuichi shuddered and tossed the case on his bed half-heartedly, digging his hands into his disheveled hair as he paced around the room groaning and moaning about how this was unfair. If his uncle were here, he would probably take Shuichi out for breakfast to help cheer him up and then work on the case with him and give him some pointers. </p><p>Instead, his uncle was out at the supermarket buying toilet paper and food to make Shuichi’s favorite dinner to celebrate his first official case, ironically.</p><p>Oh, and more beer because his uncle’s current case was apparently super stressful for him. </p><p>
  <em> Are we allowed to switch cases?  </em>
</p><p>Shuichi stopped for a moment to ponder the idea but quickly willed it away with a defeated sigh. No, he was trusted with this case. It would be unfair to have his uncle take his place. He needed to prove himself worthy of being a detective no matter what case he was given to work with. He couldn't be picky. </p><p>He took a glance at the folder. And frowned as his desire to be a detective and not let his uncle down clashed with his desire to avoid this kind of case. But, in the end, his determination won. He needed to do this.</p><p>
  <em> I’ll just get some coffee on the way to the casino and hopefully, I can power through it. If this goes as planned then I won’t need to spend another day on the case and I can get my official badge as soon as tomorrow. </em>
</p><p>The thought sparked a flame of hope in the pit of his stomach and he quickly marched over to the bedside and scooped up the case file, heading back over to the closet, he plucked his coat out and put it on properly before he finally left the apartment with short-lived motivation.</p><p>. . .</p><p> </p><p>According to the files, the casino was hidden in the alleyways (as everything in Hope’s Peak was) but it was in a different area. Over an hour away from his apartment, the place that used to be known as “Shirayuri.”  This area of Hope’s Peak had been nearly completely abandoned for 10 years now and so Celeste took it upon herself to create a casino using what used to be old buildings and restructuring them into her own design. The casino was dark on the outside but absolutely glowing on the inside and immediately it was obvious that the walls were soundproof from how loud the shouting was inside compared to how quiet it was outside. The building itself took on a basic 3-story rectangular shape but a massive scarlet red door stood out enough to tell any passer-by that this place was definitely not what it seemed. </p><p>And after entering the place and getting his bearings after such a dramatic switch from the peaceful outside to the calliopean inside, one thing was obvious. </p><p>Ludenberg Casino was the epitome of lucelence.</p><p>Inside was all casino booths, money, crystal chandeliers, shouting, music, and expensive alcohol. It was obviously well-kept and fancy, 4 wooden pillars holding up the roof on each corner of the room with intricate replica dragon designs on each of them. The carpet was pitch black beneath his feet but it made things like spilled alcohol less noticeable. There were 5 chandeliers in all, one on each corner of the room near the pillars and then one at the very top of the building where the roof stretched on 3-stories high without floors in between. It seemed like a waste of space at first but then Shuichi saw two railings wrapping around the sides of the building and two separate staircases on each side of the building which lead up to tiny pathways where there were private rooms on the outside walls. One of those rooms had to be Celeste’s.</p><p> </p><p>(I am absolute ass at place descriptions, so for an example, remember the stairs in Korekiyo's lab it's kinda like that.)</p><p> </p><p>Shuichi took note of some dried blood not too far away from a Texas Hold em casino table match and gulped nervously. Social things were never Shuichi’s specialty and in a place so large and filled to the brim with people who were willing to bet their entire lives on a single match was terrifying, to say the least. The only thing he was thankful for was that no one cared who entered the casino so no one looked his way, but even that wasn’t enough to calm his dysphoria. </p><p>He was beginning to feel nauseous, the smell of drinks and sweat making him crinkle his nose and duck his head. Beautifully disgusting was all he could say to describe the casino from his perspective. It was extremely nice, like a palace, but the people were too loud for his taste and the music a bit too soft and slow for the energetic audience.</p><p>Shuichi let out a shaky sigh as he pulled his hat further down his face and wandered to one of the staircases to the side of the room, his eyes glancing around just to make sure he didn’t bump into anyone. A lot of things were going on: at one table a man was trying to strangle a woman who was laughing while security guards tried to pull him off of her and then at the bar some lady was trying to strip while a flustered bartender tried to get her to keep her clothes on.</p><p>But as he passed by a table where a group of 4 individuals were playing blackjack, a certain pair of men caught his eye. They seemed older and around the same age as each other but they looked drastically different and their entire 'vibe' was almost the opposite of one another- one being passive and seemingly responsible and logical while the other was more mysterious and something about him set off alarm bells in his head.</p><p> The man with wavy platinum hair and ghostly skin was sat in a chair at the table, chuckling nervously with an apologetic smile as he gathered the earnings he won from the last match. Quite a pile of chips he had, as well- he certainly had way more than anyone else at the table; it nearly covered his face and it seemed like that didn't go unnoticed by the others around him. One participant- a short brunette with pigtails and clown painting on her face- stood up abruptly with a childish pout and slammed her hands on the table. "This is bullshit! I've never seen someone win 5 consecutive matches of Blackjack with the highest fucking card every single time!" </p><p>She raised her hands in the air, exasperated by the turn of events before setting herself back down in her chair and flicking her hair over her shoulder. "You're cheating, I'm sure of it. That boy toy behind you is handing you cards isn't he." </p><p>Now it was the other man's turn to speak. He had odd heterochromia eyes, one of them a dull green and the other a violent red, and yet the rest of his appearance was rather plain. Messy brown hair, fair skin, a basic white shirt and tie with dirty jeans- it was comforting yet confusing to see someone relatively normal here. He was leaning against the back of the white-haired man's chair with a nervous look on his face, and yet, as the girl began confronting the other male, he seemed to make his presence known and all previous nervousness faded. With a heavy sigh, he responded to the lady with a reasonable tone, "look, I had no interest being here in the first place, and if you're so worried about me helping him cheat then why don't I leave and-"</p><p>Shuichi tuned them out as he rounded the dragon pillar and looked up the stairs.</p><p>They were daunting, honestly. The black carpet which he was growing familiar with had transitioned into a red color once he reached the stairs and many drunken couples were brushing past him and wobbling up the stairs to find a private room.</p><p><em>...Ah so that's what those are for. </em>Shuichi flushed and cringed, shaking away his thoughts as he tried gathering his emotions once more. He felt nervous; nervous about the case, about messing up and letting Kirigiri and his uncle down, about getting in a dangerous situation, about being in somewhere so populated, and about being in shady places, to begin with. He also felt determined and excited to meet the gambling queen he'd heard so much about and also about completing his first case and becoming an official detective. </p><p>A brief flashback to his younger self playing cops and robbers with his uncle flashed in his mind and brought a nostalgic smile onto his face. </p><p>He could do this. Absolutely.</p><p>Shuichi took a deep breath and began flitting up the stairs with his hand ghosting over the rail, not wanting to touch the same thing these people were touching, but also wanting to feel like he had support. </p><p>Shuichi focused his attention on the only double doors in the entire building and the two bodyguards standing outside of it. There was no doubt who's room that was and yet he still found himself looking over all the other rooms as he reached the end of the staircase and stepped onto the platform.</p><p> </p><p>. . .</p><p> </p><p>Shuichi didn’t even get a chance to mentally prepare himself before a pale woman with raven black tornado-styled pigtails slammed open the double doors and stomped over to the rails, gripping them until her already-pale knuckles turned a concerning white color.</p><p>_____________</p><p>
  <em> Celestia Ludenberg: </em>
</p><p>
  <em> 23-years-old, 5’5” </em>
</p><p>_____________</p><p>“KOMAEDA!” Shuichi jumped and nearly squeaked, every hair on his neck standing on end as his heart leaped in his chest uncomfortably. His eyes locked onto blazing red ones only to find them directed to the white-haired boy down below who he had focused on earlier as well.</p><p>He looked back up at the woman who was undoubtedly Celeste and took notice of her death grip on the rails. Yeah, she was pissed. <em>This is obviously a bad time for her, m</em><em>aybe I can just turn around and come back lat- </em></p><p>“Celeste! I didn’t think you’d come to say hi to me tonight it’s an honor!” Shuichi looked over the railing at the man down below, baffled that the man could actually respond without fear of her anger. His heterochromia friend (who obviously had more common sense and shame than the other) seemed to be dragging a palm down his face in disappointment. Everyone was frozen, eyes glued to either the raven-haired woman or the ill-looking man. Shuichi, personally, found his attention diverting between the two of them equally. </p><p>The ill-looking man who Shuichi assumed to be Komeada had a scratchy voice that sounded rough yet charming and calming simultaneously. And Celeste was almost fuming, the veins in her forehead poking out as a deep red consumed her entire face.</p><p>“The next time you come back here, I’ll personally EXECUTE YOU.” Celeste turned towards her security guards and sighed, still seething but trying to contain it behind a practiced calm poker face. “Show them the door and make sure to cut half of their earnings and split the half between their competitors.” She flashed a smile to the crowd and waved before retreating back to her room, slamming the doors behind her. </p><p>...</p><p>It took a couple of moments before the casino returned to normal, quiet and calm at first as if scared they would anger her more, but then gradually it livened up and the previous death threats and excited shouts returned. Komaeda was dragged out by the guards with a smile on his face while the man who had been hanging on his chair with him exchanged the chips and walked out soon after with a bag of cash.</p><p>The scene was enough to snap Shuichi out of whatever daze he had been in and filled him with newfound nervousness. She seemed extremely upset and had just kicked someone out and if Shuichi went in to interrogate her, he was sure she might actually throw him out of a window. </p><p>The soon-to-be detective gulped and averted his gaze from the passerby's as he willed his wobbly legs to move towards the double doors at the end of the hall, the red handles and wood felt like a massive warning sign but he couldn't go back, he had to do this because what kind of detective would he be if he couldn't handle something like this? He had to stay confident there was no way he would back down. </p><p>So he stopped in front of the doors and knocked, his hands trembling. The guards were still taking Komeda and his friend outside but he was sure that if they had been there he wouldn't have even tried going near the door. They were scary enough from a distance as it was.</p><p>“What do you want?” The voice carried badly masked annoyance and Shuichi flinched.</p><p>“M-my name is Shuichi Saihara, I need to talk to you about-” <em> About? About what? I can’t just say I’m a detective, can I? I mean, she knows she’s a free woman but if a detective came to investigate would she take it up with Kirigiri? Even if it seems unlikely, I’ll go with the safer route. </em>“-the checkered scarves.” Shuichi briefly recalled the checkered scarf DICE wore on the rooftop and wondered if that had anything to do with the case.</p><p>. </p><p>. </p><p>.</p><p>Oh <em> God, </em>he hoped not. </p><p>“Oh my, that’s the third one this week.” Her tone seemed to lighten a little bit but it was hard to tell. You could never know what true emotions a gambler was feeling. </p><p>The clicking of heels came closer to the door and then the sound of the handle jiggling and- yeah. Saihara really regrets taking up this case. He was probably going to pass out. </p><p>A pair of crimson eyes peeked out from behind the crack of the double doors and then the door shut again, a lock clicking before the door swung open and revealed the queen of gambling herself in all her glory. She was gorgeous, truly, red and black clashing with pale skin and bloody eyes. Her hands were folded in front of her, a glint of silver from her layered Gunmetal plated ring. She stood there, her calm smile and mature stature making her come off as mensch which was odd considering her outburst earlier. </p><p>A master at her poker face, indeed.</p><p>“Step inside but don’t dirty my carpet. Take off your shoes at the door and join me at my desk.” Shuichi noted how her floor was a glossy black tile which explained how her heels clicked like that from behind the door. He also noticed the red carpet in the center of the room and white-colored walls and mainly black furniture. True to her color scheme, the theme was white, black, and red like her outfit. </p><p>He waited for Celestia to turn on her heels and saunter over to her desk, sitting down on a throne-style chair with crossed legs and folded hands rested on her knee. Shuichi stepped inside and shut the door, bending down to carefully remove his shoes and set them down on the tile by the door before turning back to Celeste and wandered over to the plain wooden chair across from her desk. He didn’t bother looking at what was on the desk, trying not to distract himself. He wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. </p><p>“The checkered scarves seems to be a prevailing topic among the streets. I wonder what sparked this new fascination, due tell why you’re so curious.” She lifted her arms, placing her elbows on her desk and settling her chin on her hands, closing her eyes and tilting her head with an innocent smile on her face. </p><p>Shuichi pulled down his hat a little further and looked down at the desk as he willed away the memory of DICE’s grin. Should he tell her that he was a detective now? No, no he already decided that was a bad idea, so then..</p><p>
  <em> “You were looking at Ouma right?” </em>
</p><p>Oh.. that’s right… DICE was known as Ouma most likely and he wore a checkered scarf... So then why did he call himself DICE? Was that an alias? Was Ouma an alias? </p><p>Saihara mentally scolded himself for thinking too hard on it and decided to trust his intuition on what he thought was the right thing to say. “I’ve spoken with a member named Ouma who left me confused about what the checkered scarves were. I’ve searched around and found out that you apparently knew something about it but that everyone else refused to tell me anything-” </p><p>“Ouma? You’ve talked with Ouma?” Well, that got her attention. But was it the right thing to say? Shuichi guessed by the way Celeste’s eyes widened and her brows furrowed that it could have been the right choice of words. Was DI- <em> Ouma </em>really involved in this bomb threat? It seemed a little odd how Ouma was somehow connected to his first case but Shuichi decided he would wonder about that later.</p><p>"Yes, we met a while back but its taken me a while to find anyone related to him." Speaking of the boy left an odd sour taste in his mouth and he nearly cringed thinking back to him but managed to pull out a fake smile to hide his discomfort with the topic. He could only hope it transitioned into the bomb threats somehow.</p><p>Celeste hummed in thought but then leaned forward with her eyes a bit too wide. "Ah, Saihara you said? I've heard of you."</p><p>Shuichi furrowed his brow and chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully. "O-oh? Is that so?"</p><p>"Yes, indeed it is. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you anything about the checkered scarves so I suggest you find Ouma again or try and speak to a girl named Kaede Akamatsu. She's his main member, though not quite a second-hand. I believe she should be lurking somewhere in the alley's behind that shabby apartment building Ouma is so attached to." Celeste scrunched up her face in disgust but Shuichi was too out of it to really process it. </p><p>He... had to go back? He had to-</p><p>Shuichi stood up abruptly and turned away while fixing his hat over his face to conceal his eyes once more.</p><p>"Thank you for your time." He stepped into his shoes rather forcefully and then bowed awkwardly before twisting the handles and slipping out of the room. He tried not to bump into others or trip on his own feet as he navigated down the stairway with his eyes focused on anything but other people. It was more than a little frustrating how Kirigiri managed to pick the single case Shuichi would rather die than work on. </p><p>He willed the image of the ghostly boy out of his mind and tried to focus as he made his way out of the casino with shaky knees.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Just don't go to the rooftop...</em>
</p><p>______________________</p><p> </p><p>Celestia hummed as she watched him leave, tapping her fingers against her dark oak desk while smiling the slightest bit, her eyes trailing to the crinkled note face-down next to her hand.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>______________________</em>
</p><p>
  <strong>A/N</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>So, first, I know this one is half-assed and short and honestly kinda trash- I hated reading back at it but I'm so tired idk if I can even begin to start fixing it. I wanted to do a lot more with this chapter but instead, I have to abruptly cut it off and continue it in part 2 because my body is exhausted. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>I haven't been able to sleep properly and so I'll randomly get a wave of fatigue and end up crashing for several hours which is very unlike me so I've just been sleeping to try and get my body well-rested. I'll be slow to update this next chapter but hopefully, I won't run into this problem again. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Also, one last time, I am so sorry for the lateness, shortness, and overall bad delivery of this chapter.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Anddd...</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>MERRY CHRISTMAS!! (if you celebrate it)</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yeah, this chapter ended up extremely bad, I apologize, I'll try to make the next one much better to make up for it ^^</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Posting Date ♡</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I've been absent for a long while so I figure I need a chapter here to explain exactly what's going on and get some feedback from all of you!!!</p><p> </p><p>I'll be posting the next chapter sometime tomorrow or on a random day next week, I haven't been able to work on it much due to the holiday's and exhaustion but now I'm feeling better and I'll be able to post!!</p><p> </p><p>You can also expect to see some oneshots and mini-stories following the next chapter, most of them (if not all) being Saiouma.</p><p> </p><p>Thank you all for being so patient with me, I'm always happy to se your comments theories, and support ♡</p><p>  </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Connections pt.2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A h a h a </p><p>M i u</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello!! I'm so sorry for taking such a long time to post, as a lot of you know, some things have been getting in the way. Thankfully, I'm able to start posting more since I've been able to fix my sleeping schedule and such. Thank you all so much for tuning in, enjoy~</p><p>Also, this wasn't beta read-</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Miu Iruma, the “sexy inventor”- or so she said when Ouma walked into her pigsty of a house- was a total slob. It was like everywhere he looked there were clothes, junk, empty bags of chips, and crappy inventions that looked straight out of a kid's book and were most likely prototypes. Well, hopefully, they were prototypes. If this was the kind of shit Ouma was getting, his job here was done and he could take the avocado-looking idiot beside him who had dragged him here and throw him off a building for wasting his time. </p><p> </p><p>Miu, leaning over her desk which had a flickering desk light and messy pages, was currently searching for the blueprints of the inventions that she had created as if showing him the blueprints would mean anything. He wanted the final product, not some lengthy nerdy rant about how ‘oh the red wire wouldn’t connect to the transmitter and blah blah.’ Ouma attempted his best poker face, his hands behind his head with the smallest of smiles, his legs aching to turn around and stomp out of there, yanking the checkered scarf off of the green-haired boy’s wrist (which was tied rather neatly and looked oddly like a bracelet. An odd way to wear it but hey).</p><p> </p><p>“Ah-ha! Found ya, bitch!” Miu shouted excitedly, looking over the blueprints briefly. She opened her mouth to likely go off on a tangent about how she stayed up all night and how difficult it was to design just 10 untraceable phones, but Kokichi was having none of it.</p><p> </p><p>He clapped his hands loudly and Miu flinched, her previously boisterous attitude shifting to that of a wimpy kid. “This is gonna take all day at this rate! Just go grab me the phones and we’ll be done here, K~” He sang the last part with a childish tone, a practiced grin forcing its way onto his face. Patience wasn’t something he had a lot of, especially when he was surrounded in dirty clothes in a cramped apartment which wreaked of greasy food and artificial lavender.</p><p> </p><p>“Y-yes sir,” she tugged at a strand of her hair and let go of the useless blueprint, walking to the other side of her bed and ducking down out of sight. </p><p> </p><p>“If you’ve wasted my time here, I’ll personally snap your neck.” Ouma warned in a low whisper to Amami, his tone so venomous that he could practically taste bitter poison on his tongue. He kept his grin on, never once letting it falter and that alone made Amami hold back a shiver.</p><p> </p><p>Rantaro reached a hand behind his head and rubbed his neck nervously, offering a lighthearted laugh to try and brush off his threat.</p><p> </p><p>Miu popped up from the far side of her bed and dumped a plastic bin full of similar-looking flip phones on her bed with a prideful “HA!” Each phone was similar in design and color but there were different keychains dangling from the corner of all of them. </p><p> </p><p><em> 1 </em> , 2… <em> 10? Really, all 10 of them?  </em></p><p> </p><p>If Kokichi wasn’t such a good liar, he might have shown his surprise. Instead, he simply sauntered over to the edge of her bed, the opposite side of Miu, and looked down at the phones with a finger on his chin. He stood there with wide, innocent eyes, blinking at them as he hummed, assessing the quality and miniature keychain figurines that were all barely the size of his pinky’s fingernail. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> One a 6-sided red die, one an ace of spades poker card, a red heart, the chibi face of a fox, a cupcake, a crown, a knife, a saxophone, the chibi face of a brown bear, and a fake, fancy-looking black key. They all had a shine to them and none of them were larger than the others, and for their small size, they were surprisingly intricate and didn’t have any 3D qualities, all of them no thicker than 4 pages in a stack. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Kokichi nodded thoughtfully and picked up the one with a crown keychain, flipping on the phone only to see a messaging group chat with no messages. <em> No password, that takes off some points, but there’s also no home screen and that means no games or distractions so that also adds points.  </em></p><p> </p><p>He looked at the top of the chat were the group chat name and numbers of members were shown. <em> Ten members. Ten phones. No group chat name yet. Good. </em></p><p> </p><p>Next, he looked to the right corner where 3 dots waited, likely leading to the group chat settings, and then the picture of a phone next to it. Experimentally, he clicked on it using the arrow buttons and a list of the group member names popped up. All members had been nicknamed based on their keychain and as he scrolled through the contacts, he decided to test the red heart one. He watched the heart phone patiently, his own phone only having to vibrate once before the heart phone lit up and buzzed on the bed.</p><p> </p><p>Ouma grinned and snapped his phone shut (the call being canceled immediately) and then waved it at Miu. “Nishishi~ Wow, the pink-centric whore actually made something nice! Color me surprised~ I should give the green bean back there more credit, great job, Dora the explorer, you actually found me something I can use!” He cast a glance over his shoulder and was met with soft, forced laughter from the adventurer who clearly seemed a little unsettled by the reference to his job and a kid's television show.</p><p> </p><p>“Damn right! Those babies are hooked up to their very own-”</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t ruin the moment with that boring shit. These can’t be traced, right?” Miu crinkled her nose as if she was offended by being interrupted but nodded her head, her own pride conquering her distaste for the purple gremlin. </p><p> </p><p>“That’s right, you can show any kinda naughty pics on there and no one except the other 9 phones will be able to have access to it!” Miu cackled and rose a brow at Kokichi, leaning forward as if to push her cleavage out even more. Kokichi gagged, “how’d you manage to gather 9 fuck buddies anyway? Are you startin an orgy or some shit?”</p><p> </p><p>“Wouldn’t you like to know, slut,” Kokichi smirked, his eyes narrowing as if he was threatening her to back off. Unfortunately, Miu didn’t catch on to the threat, but she shrunk back anyway, ducking her face behind her hair as she locked her knees together and began sweating while looking away, her ego crumbling away to reveal a sensitive interior. That, or, well, maybe she liked being called a slut?</p><p> </p><p>For nearly the 5th time since he’d walked into the shitty apartment, he gagged and wrinkled his nose. Quickly, as if touching her bedsheets would give him 30 STD’s, he picked up all the phones in his arms and shuffled over to Rantaro, ordering him to outstretch his arms as Ouma dumped all the phones into his hands.</p><p> </p><p>He relished in the sight of Rantaro struggling to hold onto them all.</p><p> </p><p>Kokichi kept the crown-keychain phone and stuffed it into his pocket, pulling out a checkered scarf along with it. He shuddered at the thought of inviting Miu to be in DICE, curling his toes in his shoes to avoid gagging once again as he tossed the scarf back at her, hoping that it at least landed on the bed and didn’t get on the floor with the rest of her shit.</p><p> </p><p>Without looking back, he waved his hand and opened the front door, Rantaro in tow. “Welcome to DICE, slut.”</p><p> </p><p>________________________</p><p> </p><p>Rantaro’s and Kokichi’s 15-minute taxi ride back to Kokichi’s abandoned apartment building ends up becoming something parallel to two partnered detectives discussing their plan to capture a murderer while the taxi driver is too confused to even commit such a conversation to memory.</p><p> </p><p>Kokichi starts it off only 30 seconds after getting into the back of the taxi, preferring to lean against a window and look out at the road than being anywhere near Rantaro. Not that it was a personal grudge or that he hated Rantaro, he just didn’t like being squished in the back of a taxi with someone he barely knew. Someone who was Miu’s <em> friend. Bleh. </em>“Tell the pink priss to get started on a buzzer or something so I know when she’s done with my inventions. I don’t want to waste time. I’m also going to need some remote-controlled explosives, a smoke bomb, and maybe a gun that shoots out rainbow-”</p><p> </p><p>“She can’t make a gun that shoots out rainbows, Ouma.” Rantaro responds oh-so-unhelpfully.</p><p> </p><p>Kokichi sticks his tongue out at him and then looks back out the window with a tired sigh, suddenly missing Kaede’s presence (which he never thought in a million years he would ever admit to himself but when you’re cooped up with a passive-aggressive charming jackass and spend more than 30 minutes in an apartment dirtier than a sewer, he couldn’t really help it). “Is she able to at least make the explosives and smoke bomb discreetly.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, I think so. She’s made something similar before but it cut out electricity.” Kokichi committed that to memory, deciding that if he wanted to take over the world, maybe he should have equipment that could shut off cameras and such. Maybe he could even mess with Kaede and turn off her phone before she had a chance to argue. Now <em> that </em> would be fun. </p><p> </p><p>“Alllrightyy~ There’s no deadline, just tell her to get them ready.” Now, then. Explosives, smoke bomb, phones, scarves, and now all he needed were his 9 main members and the rest of the scarves and his outfit made before he could start world domination. See, his 9 closer members were meant to be the <em> core </em> of DICE, taking orders and following directly under him while all other members were just side pieces who he contacted if he needed anything. That was what the phones were for. Problem was that he only had one person in mind but without at least 3 other people involved, he doubted that the person in mind would accept. </p><p> </p><p>“How do you have so many scarves?” Kokichi tilted his head back to look at Rantaro, grinning at the question. </p><p> </p><p>“I have a good friend in the fashion industry, that’s all.” </p><p> </p><p>__________________________________</p><p> </p><p>Kokichi slammed the taxi door shut, smirking at how Rantaro and the driver flinched ever-so-slightly at the sound. It was worth dropping a couple of the phones in his hands and having to pick them up again. The driver was a risk since he knew of explosives and could report that if he wanted to, but reporting it would make it more fun anyway and most people around here didn’t even bother reporting half the illegal shit they’ve seen.</p><p> </p><p>Everyone down here has done something illegal, so what was the point in ratting out someone who was in the same boat as you?</p><p> </p><p>Kokichi whistled a tune of his own creation as he wandered into the alley beside the apartment building, throwing the phones onto the metal platform before jumping up to grab the low-hanging ladder (he refuses to admit that if he was a could inches taller he could reach it with no problem) and climbed up to the metal platform he usually jumped onto from the roof. </p><p> </p><p>He was itching to add another tally to his wall, to grab one of the pop tarts that Kaede had bought him, and pass out on his couch while telling Kaede how skanky the inventor was.</p><p> </p><p>But he wouldn’t get to do any of that because, unbeknownst to him, a certain pig-tailed brunette girl was waiting for a moment to strike from the rooftop, watching him push aside the curtains and step into his apartment home and throw the phones inside haphazardly.</p><p> </p><p>She jumped down successfully, though she was fully aware of the loud rattle it made as she followed him into the apartment and was met with.. Nothing? He wasn’t there. Maybe he was in the kitche-</p><p> </p><p>“Hiiiiii~ You know it’s rude to break into people’s homes~” She flinched and spun around, looking around for where the voice was coming from but- “Up here, stupid.” Her brow twitched from the insult but she looked up obediently, glaring up at the boy who was hanging from the curtain guiding rail above his own window, a devilish smirk on his face. Ouma. This was him, this was really the person working on building the DICE organization? </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> But he’s just… A child. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Ouma hopped down from the curtain and dusted off his hands, placing his hands on his hips while angling a sassy look up at the girl. <em> A sassy… short… child… Maybe I have the wrong person. </em></p><p> </p><p>She sighed and bowed politely, looking away as if she was embarrassed for being caught and was likely in the wrong person's home, anyway. “I’m sorry for intruding… Do you have any leads on where the leader of the DICE organization is?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yup~” Kokichi folded his hands behind his head, watching as the girl straightened up almost immediately, a certain childish glint in her eyes. Well, everything was a little childish about her when you looked closely enough. She had a mature stance and height but her voice was an octave too high and her face was covered in awful clown makeup for a reason he would rather not know. It was a nice look, but it fits more in a carnival than in the streets here.</p><p> </p><p>“Really? Where can I find him, I’ve been looking all over but the woman who told me about where he lived must have lied. I’m sorry to have bothered you, mister…?” </p><p> </p><p>“Ouma. Or boss, depending on who’s asking.” The girl stopped for a moment and Kokichi took advantage of her shock to go to the kitchen and fetch himself a poptart. “Did you come here asking to join, and who did you talk to exactly, I thought I gave clear instructions that my address wasn’t given.”</p><p> </p><p>“T-T-Tsumugi, she told me about you while I was getting some me-measurments,” he heard her call out weakly from the other room. He perked up and unraveled the foil from the sugary treats, excited that Tsumugi was actually bringing in people. </p><p> </p><p>“That’s fine then. I won’t have her executed, though if I’m not impressed by what you have to offer DICE, I doubt the same could be said for you.” He responded teasingly, walking back to the living room to find her staring at the kitchen and now locking eyes with him.</p><p> </p><p>“I-I,” she cleared her throat and steeled her nerves, introducing herself properly this time with a neutral expression to try and hide her nervousness. “My name is Yua, I’m offering my services as a bodyguard.”</p><p> </p><p>“I do need a bodyguard since I know I’ll have assassins trained on me once my plan starts, but what makes you think you’re qualified for that.” He took another bite and hummed delightfully as he swallowed it down.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ve had 12 years of martial arts train-”</p><p> </p><p>“What kind?”</p><p> </p><p>“-A mix of Judo, Kyusho Jitsu, and Krav Maga, sir.” Kokichi hummed thoughtfully.</p><p> </p><p>“Any weapons training? Have you ever won a fight against someone using this training? And lastly, were you born here or not.” For someone with such ridiculous makeup, it was a little odd how she managed to know such dangerous styles of martial arts. How?</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, sir. I know how to use a variety of weapons, though I mostly just use guns, daggers or tasers. Sometimes pepper spray, though that isn’t really considered a professional weapon- and yes I’ve defeated plenty very easily using my training. I haven’t gotten hurt in a fight since I was 10. Lastly, I was born here and haven’t moved all my life, I learned my martial arts from some underground teachers who took me in.”</p><p> </p><p>“.. How old are you, Yua.” Kokichi asked carefully. <em> Twelve years of training, getting hurt in a fight at ten… how many years since then? When did she start her training? </em></p><p> </p><p>“I’m 18, though I started my training when I was 6 if that’s what you’re wondering.” </p><p> </p><p>Kokichi finished off his poptart and threw the trash on the floor without much care, walking past Yua as he crouched next to the pile of phones he had thrown into the apartment. His <em> crown-keychain </em> phone was in his pant pocket so now there were only 9 to choose from. He did a quick once-over of all the choices before picking up the <em> knife-keychain </em> phone and handing it to her as he stood up.</p><p> </p><p>“Go visit Tsumugi and ask her for a checkered scarf, welcome to DICE, Yua.” She stared at him for a long moment, frozen in place once again but when she came-to, she squealed and jumped once, her arms twitching and it was pretty obvious to Ouma that she wanted to hug him and so he quickly backpedaled to the couch and used the excuse to pick up his sharpie and add another tally to avoid the awkward contact. </p><p> </p><p>“That phone I just gave you is for the 9 closest members to me, known as the core of DICE. Since you will be my bodyguard, you’re within the core. You’ll go by an alias, which I’ve already decided for you to be the Queen of Hearts. Once you open the phone, you can change your nickname to that in the group chat. Now, these phones are very special. The lines and signals can’t be intercepted and it only has call and texting functions to one chat which is meant to have all 10 members of the core only. That’s including myself. Once we get the other 8 members, we’ll be ready to start. Tell Tsumugi to take your measurements and ask her to start on a “DICE outfit” for you. Don’t add a description, she knows what you’ll be talking about. Oh, and-” He turned to look at her, averting his gaze from the wall so he could catch her awed expression and eager head-nodding, accepting any task he gave her. “-Tell her to get ready for a project involving an inventor, I’ll text her the details tomorrow. Your clown makeup just gave me an idea.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I have the next chapters planned and written, just give me time to organize and beta-read and I'll have them out shortly, in the meantime please give me some feedback on how this worked out and if you all are comfortable with the idea and writing style.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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